News Shorts: Hashimoto to aim for All-Japan Open Weight next year, Wolf injured but should recover in time for world championships

In an interview conducted just prior to departing for the 2017 Ekaterinburg Grand Slam, world #2 ranked Soichi Hashimoto (-73kg) told reporters that one of his hopes for next year would be to compete in the All-Japan Open Weight Championships next April. Spurred on by his Japanese rival, Shohei Ono, who competed in the open weight tournament last month, Hashimoto said that he hopes a win at this summer’s world championships would earn him a spot in the coveted tournament next year (source). If he should fulfill his dream, this would be good for all parties involved as open weight matches are becoming more and more scarce these days, especially at the elite level. His selection of techniques are quite different from that of his rival Ono, and may prove more suitable against larger opponents. One will never know until he steps onto the mat, so here’s to hoping his wish comes true!

Shortly after writing this blog entry, Ryuju Nagayama also announced he would like to earn a spot in next year’s contest as a -60kg entry! Guess nobody is going to let Ono show them up. While I commend Nagayama’s enthusiasm, I would rather see these athletes qualify through the normal qualification channels than request a special entrance for their success in the prospective categories. Either way, should the trend continue, we will certainly be entertained with some unusual matchups.

In other news, Aaron Wolf is out of this weekend’s Ekaterinburg Grand Slam due to an injury sustained to his right chest area. However, his participation in this summer’s world championships is not in jeopardy according to Japanese national team head coach, Kosei Inoue. His withdrawal is more of a preventative measure as Wolf has apparently competed through the pain and is experiencing fatigue. That is good news, and we hope that Wolf will be at %100 for his debut in a world championships.

 

*Editor’s note: The photo in this entry was taken by Klaus Mueller who owns the rights to this photo. Mr. Mueller, if you would like this photograph to be taken down, please let us know and we will do so promptly. Thank you for your wonderful photos.